Simple buff to Rapid Laser Cannons

[Nemarus]

I briefly mentioned this off-hand in another thread about Rapids, but the more I've thought about it, the more I think it is worth serious consideration, and I'd like to get others' opinions.

 

What if Rapids just got a flat +50% Accuracy boost over what they have now, at every range?

 

This would do a couple things:

 

1) Rapids would largely be unaffected by tracking penalty.

2) Rapids would largely negate passive evasion builds (much like how HLC and BLC ignore damage reduction builds)

 

These two would combine to make Rapids the ultimate deterministic point-and-shoot weapon. Hold down the mouse button, aim at the lead indicator, and your target is almost certain to take damage.

 

This is especially great for new pilots (for whom Rapids is the default starting weapon), because they are able to learn how to fly and aim without having to know anything about the subtler accuracy/tracking/evasion mechanics. They're able to reliably rack up assists, which means a reliable source of requisition and progress.

 

Even veteran pilots, who get frustrated by the accuracy/tracking/evasion game, could fall back to Rapids if they prefer.

 

I believe that Rapids would still be underpowered, in terms of raw damage output potential, but at least they would have a strong niche--one that heavily benefits the new pilots who start with them.

 

And if more people start using Rapids by choice, then we might also see Scouts (especially heavy evasion builds) reigned in a bit, and I think we can all agree that would be good for the game. Even just having more Scouts using S2E, Quick-charge, and Directional would be welcome.

 

Like any change, there would be potential to shift the meta a bit, and further tweaks might be necessary. But I think the benefit to new pilots alone (giving them a reliable point-and-shoot weapon to learn on) makes this proposal warrant serious consideration.

 

EDIT:

 

Another big reason why new pilots really need this "buffer" to protect them from the accuracy/evasion/tracking mechanics is because they really start out disadvantaged on that axis. They are stuck with basic tooltips (which don't indicate tracking penalty or any kind of accuracy falloff due to range), they don't know to take the +6% Accuracy crew passive, and they don't know to use Wingman.

 

Rapids getting a flat +50% accuracy bonus protects new pilots from having to know all that just in order to point and shoot successfully.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Nemarus

[caederon]

I like it. It would create a reason you might want to choose rapids for reasons other than comedy value. It'd be interesting if they were the weapon of choice for interceptors to counter scouts in a non-railgunny way. It would reward solid maneuvering and aiming skills since you still have to keep the damage hose on a target for extended periods. Having an anti-evasion weapon seems warranted, and the (lack of) range would seem to prevent anything too game-breaking. I'd love to see that at least tested.

 

- Despon

[Ardaneb]

It will immediately be the best effective DPS weapon and at the lowest cost. You will not be able to fly evasively enough to escape at 3000-4000 meters, even without a system ability or Wingman being used. Rapid/pods on S2E double speed scout will be the best ship escaping it and possibly the best ship for using it.

 

I love the idea of an accuracy boost for this weapon. If you buff too little, then scout targets can simply continue to ignore it. However, if you buff too much, then the targets will die regardless of whether they fly evasively. I just think 50 is too much at the longer ranges. Perhaps +50, +30, +30 on the accuracy.

[Ramalina]

Well at 50% tracking penalty basically no longer exists, and I'm not sure the devs would go for that.

 

Ardaneb's suggestion has some merit, though I'd be more generous and recommend something like a final baseline accuracy after the buff of something like 165% - 130% - 110%.

 

Aim is rewarded slightly, range management is rewarded a lot, and evasion cooldowns retain some value but baseline evasion is pretty much obliterated. Add the crew passive and Wingman and you have a solid counter to even stacked evasion cooldowns.

 

From a power and balance perspective I don't really think a 50% accuracy boost at all ranges would be a problem, I just sort of suspect that they might be more ok with reducing some mechanics to trace amounts than they would be with effectively eliminating them from RFLs.

[Binthurmung]

WHAT if rapids just had a damgae multiplier that added up when you are able to maintain sustained fire for a period of time? first 3 hits within .3s each is x1 next 3 hits x.1.1 and so on so on up from there????? i thought it would be a quick easy solution seems to me, but maybe the whole issue just not that simpl idk lol

[Nemarus]

WHAT if rapids just had a damgae multiplier that added up when you are able to maintain sustained fire for a period of time? first 3 hits within .3s each is x1 next 3 hits x.1.1 and so on so on up from there????? i thought it would be a quick easy solution seems to me, but maybe the whole issue just not that simpl idk lol

 

This is an entirely new mechanic that would need lots of additional development and testing. And it wouldn't do anything to help new pilots, which is GSF's biggest problem by far.

[Nemarus]

It will immediately be the best effective DPS weapon and at the lowest cost. You will not be able to fly evasively enough to escape at 3000-4000 meters, even without a system ability or Wingman being used. Rapid/pods on S2E double speed scout will be the best ship escaping it and possibly the best ship for using it.

 

I love the idea of an accuracy boost for this weapon. If you buff too little, then scout targets can simply continue to ignore it. However, if you buff too much, then the targets will die regardless of whether they fly evasively. I just think 50 is too much at the longer ranges. Perhaps +50, +30, +30 on the accuracy.

 

It would still be very hard to score kills with under satellites. It would still be useless against Charged Plating or other thick shields like Directional or Overcharged.

 

If a Scout using Distortion Field dies because it can't get out of the Rapids firing arc, then it deserves to die. It was outflown.

 

As for longer ranges, keep in mind that new pilots (who this change is mainly targeted at helping) have no idea damage and accuracy scale downward with range, because you don't see that unless you have advanced GSF tooltips turned on, which few pilots do. This is what default GSF tooltips look like, in case you forgot Besides, range management is already rewarded with increased damage. I think it's fine for new pilots to be pretty confident that their shots will hit, regardless of range.

 

The nice part about just slapping on a +50% accuracy bonus at all ranges is that new pilots get the full benefit from it without having to know ANYTHING about the game.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Nemarus

[Nemarus]

Well at 50% tracking penalty basically no longer exists, and I'm not sure the devs would go for that.

 

Ardaneb's suggestion has some merit, though I'd be more generous and recommend something like a final baseline accuracy after the buff of something like 165% - 130% - 110%.

 

Aim is rewarded slightly, range management is rewarded a lot, and evasion cooldowns retain some value but baseline evasion is pretty much obliterated. Add the crew passive and Wingman and you have a solid counter to even stacked evasion cooldowns.

 

From a power and balance perspective I don't really think a 50% accuracy boost at all ranges would be a problem, I just sort of suspect that they might be more ok with reducing some mechanics to trace amounts than they would be with effectively eliminating them from RFLs.

 

Ultimately, while tracking penalty is an interesting mechanic, GSF is outright hostile about teaching new players about it. The basic tooltips don't show it. You get no flytext when you miss due to accuracy/evasion/tracking, so you end up thinking the game is just broken.

 

I believe accuracy/evasion/tracking is a huge reason why a lot of new players give up on GSF. Remember, most new players have only basic tooltips to go on, don't have the +6% accuracy from crew passive, and don't use Wingman (because it doesn't sound very sexy). So they are already behind the 8-ball. Making Rapids essentially outright ignore that whole mechanic will serve as a solid buffer between new pilots and the severity of the learning curve.

 

Even if they aren't doing enough damage to kill most targets, they'll be seeing damage numbers and feeling like the game is respecting their aim.

[Verain]

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7213729

 

Nemarus opens with idea (4b) - evasion piercing. In his case, he just has it as a ton of accuracy.

 

I still think this is a fantastic buff, and one that would give the gun great purpose. If it actually was something that an evasion scout would worry about, that would be a huge bonus- remember that all scouts can get rapid fire, and two strikes, and that is it so it already is amazingly positioned to be good at this role. Given the relatively ludicrous amount of evasion stacking and the math that benefits it, something like this would be a really great buff.

 

If you were promised that you would hit with every RFL shot- as in, it could NEVER miss- you'd still have plenty of cases where RFL was bad. What would change is that it would be worth using in some cases. Something like "ignores evasion" or "+50% accuracy" comes close enough that it would be pretty great.

 

Is this a good value? Probably 50% is too high. If it had this value, it would be really super hard to justify using light laser cannon (another weapon that could use a buff, although a small one). But that's not really an argument against this as an RFL buff- LLC is certainly a weapon chosen not very often, after all.

 

The real reason it gets brought up- and I think the reason Nem went with this buff over another- is that it creates a situation where RFL actually has a good user interface. You point and click, and, if you did that correctly, you land a shot. The big thing that is often waved away is how much harder it is to use RFL correctly, compared to the other lasers. By needing to draw a constant bead just to get the advertised mediocre dps, it has this really high skill cap- but no reward for actually reaching said skill cap. Get rid of that, and it becomes this gun where you slowly paint damage on anyone you can keep close.

 

 

It will immediately be the best effective DPS weapon and at the lowest cost.

 

Would you use it versus gunships? How about gunships not running distortion?

Would it be that great against strikes?

How about bombers?

How about charged plating bombers?

 

If it would become effective against the meta-stacked evasion scout, sounds great man. That would create a lot of counterplay in the scout world, along with buffing two of the three strikes. It would make a real choice where BLC trivializes armor and RFL mostly ignores evasion.

 

Well at 50% tracking penalty basically no longer exists, and I'm not sure the devs would go for that.

 

No, and they might not. But note that:

1)- Other solutions, such as a lower accuracy bonus than 50%, or "evasion ignore", would not suffer from this.

2)- Plenty of weapons already ignore 100% of armor.

 

WHAT if rapids just had a damgae multiplier that added up when you are able to maintain sustained fire for a period of time?

 

Bint goes for suggestion (4a) from:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7213729

 

This is also a good idea, but I really like that Nem's idea greatly improves the new player experience. A fancy stack mechanic gun to get the reward out of RFL is cool, but simply making the gun usable doesn't need that kind of song and dance.

 

Also, it is far from "quick and easy". A stacking debuff is a whole new deal. I made that suggestion assuming it would be a real increase, not something easy. That's the most technically challenging out of all the suggestions.

 

You get no flytext when you miss due to accuracy/evasion/tracking

 

This has been my actual number 1 pet peeve about the game. If I could fix anything, it would be this. It would address so many player questions, the moment they saw "miss" pop up on shooting. "Oh" they would think "I have to aim like *so* to hit". Brain learns, game is great. The sheer number of false starts the lack of this text causes are just so head-shake.

 

 

 

At the end of the day, I think we just need to buff anything about this gun. But if it was the accuracy thing like Nem says, we address multiple avians with but a single mineral delivery package system. It's also a very simple buff, though I doubt the simplicity is as relevant as we'd hope.

[Pilgrim_Grey]

I really like this idea and I do agree that rapids could use the change. I do wonder about the flat increase to every range, but I'm sure a good average could be worked out that would help.